Frequent, Frustrating, and Costly Carrier Billing Errors... And How to Correct Them!

Contrary to what you may think, the moon isn’t made of cheese, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and UPS and FedEx are not infallible. Despite the advanced technology and automated systems the carriers may use to process your invoices, there are still dozens of human inputs that occur between the time a shipping label is created and the time a package is delivered. These human inputs leave a margin for error that ultimately results in a shipper overpaying their carrier. Mistakes happen.

The following are a few examples of common carrier billing errors:

Invalid Address Correction Fee: When entering shipment info, how many times have you written out the word “Street” instead of abbreviating it to “St.”? What about using “Unit 101” instead of “Suite 101”? These are some examples of what could trigger invalid address correction charges. Every time your address doesn’t match that in the carrier’s database, you will be charged $12. Address correction fees, along with a bunch of other accessorial charges, can appear on your invoices due to human error somewhere down the line.

Invalid Residential Charge: Sometimes, when a package is delivered, the driver will have to manually input whether the shipment was delivered to a residential or commercial address. Whether by a mistaken input in the driver’s delivery device or an erroneous determination of residential as opposed to commercial, the shipper will have to pay up for the driver’s error.

Invalid Dimensional Weight Adjustment: Via dimensional weight (DIM) charges, carriers like UPS and FedEx have the ability to rate lower density shipments at a higher weight… thus increasing the shipping cost. If there are DIM charges appearing on your carrier’s bill for box sizes that don’t represent one of your company’s standard box sizes, then it is likely that a DIM charge was incorrectly assessed and can be refunded to your account.

These charges, and many others, often find their way on to your carrier invoices. Sometimes, due to the sheer volume of shipping invoices being processed, you might not be able to catch and dispute all of the incorrect accessorial charges. We don’t want that to happen! Implementing a parcel audit is the best way to ensure that these charges are caught and refunded to you by the carrier. Curious to see what kinds of errors are appearing on your invoices? Throw one into Audisee, our instant (and free) UPS and FedEx parcel audit to find out.

Accessorial charges can add up fast, and it would take a full team working around the clock to make sure they are all reviewed and disputed (when applicable). Nobody (except for us) has that kind of time. Let us help and put another set of watchful eyes on your carrier invoices.